Longhorns can't overcome Titanic second half

FORT BENTON - The Fort Benton Longhorns know exactly what it feels like to have an offense that's clicking on all cylinders. But in the Class C semifinals, they had the tables turned on them.

Saturday in Fort Benton, the Flint Creek Titans scored 30 unanswered points in the second half of their 8-Man semifinal with the Longhorns en route to a 48-18 win, and a trip to next week's state championship game. The victory, spurred on by the play of star Montana State recruit Kade Cutler, also brought the Longhorn's state championship dreams to an end.

The dream, however, was very much alive in the first 20 minutes.

Fort Benton drove right down the field and scored on a nine-yard touchdown pass from Billy Ullery to Jace Thompson, giving the undefeated Longhorns a 6-0 lead. In a seesaw first half, though, the Titans (Drummond-Phillipsburgh) had the answers. The Titans scored on the next possession, a three-yard run by Cutler, as the first quarter ended in a 6-6 stalemate. Fort Benton came right back, though, with Ullery connecting with Hayden Diekhans on a 28-yard TD pass on the first play of the second quarter, before Cutler answered with a one-yard score to tie the game back up at 12-12. Fort Benton scored just four minutes later, though, when Ullery hit Diekhans for a second time, but the Titans answered with a Preston Metesh run, just before time expired in a great first half.

As good as the first half was for Fort Benton, though, the third quarter was a nightmare.

Cutler threw a TD pass to Metesh on the first series of the second half, then the Titan defense stopped Fort Benton on a fourth-down play deep in the Longhorns' own territory. Two plays later, Cutler was back in the endzone and the Titans were out in front 34-18. Cutler would score two more times, capitalizing on a pair of Fort Benton turnovers, and on the other side of the ball, the Fort Benton offense went stone cold. Fort Benton came into the game averaging 61 points per outing in two playoff wins, but the Longhorns were shut out by a stingy Flint Creek defense, led by who else but Cutler, who forced a fumble and had 13 tackles to go along with his huge offensive outing, which included six total touchdowns.

On the other end, Ullery paced Fort Benton with over 100 yards passing, but the Horns', who would finish the season with an 8-1 record, couldn't get their normally potent ground attack going.

Now, Flint Creek (10-0) will host Scobey in the Class C state championship game next Saturday. Meanwhile, Fort Benton's magical and dominant run came to an end one game shy of getting to play for a state title. Still, it's been a great run for the Longhorns and head coach Jory Thompson. In the last two years, the Longhorns have lost just two games, went to the semifinals twice, and won a pair of Northern C championships.

Note: Last Saturday also saw state championships handed out in Class A and Six-Man. In White Sulphur Springs, Froid-Lake dominated WSS 44-19 for the school's first-ever state championship in football. Meanwhile, in Billings, Laurel crushed Eastern A rival Billings Central 34-0 for the state championship. The 2020 fall sports season ends next week when Missoula Sentinel plays Billings West for the AA title, and Manhattan takes on Fairfield for the Class B state championship.

Flint Creek 6 12 22 8 - 48

Fort Benton 6 12 0 0 - 18

FOR - Thompson 9 pass from Ullery (run failed)

DP - Cutler 3 run (run failed)

FOR - Diekhans 28 pass from Ullery (run failed)

DP - Cutler 1 run (run failed)

FOR - Diekhans 11 pass from Ullery (run failed)

DP - Preston Metesh 3 run (run failed)

DP - Preston Metesh 4 pass from Cutler (Preston Metesh run)

DP - Cutler 4 run (Leyton Wagner pass from Cutler)

DP - Cutler 1 run (run failed)

DP - Cutler 1 run (Cutler run)